Adobe Premiere Pro CS6 software combines incredible performance with a sleek, revamped user interface and a host of fantastic new creative features, including Warp Stabilizer for stabilizing footage, dynamic timeline trimming, expanded multicam editing, adjustment layers, and more. Ready to switch to the ultimate toolset for video pros? Work natively with the latest mobile, DSLR, HD, and RAW formats; edit, trim, and adjust effects in real time; stabilize shaky footage; and enjoy a sleek, revamped user interface and expanded multicam support. Over 50 enhancements make switching to Adobe® Premiere Pro CS6 software easy.

The first thing you’ll notice is that the entire interface has been redesigned. Everything is centred around the editing process with very large Source and Program monitors at the top, and huge thumbnails in the browser section. Although they now take up a lot more room, they’re also extremely useful as you can see at a glance which clip you’d like to work with next. Adobe has definitely taken a cue from iMovie and Final Cut Pro X: move your cursor over a clip to skim through your footage. It also does one better: click on the clip to reveal a small timeline. Drag its playhead to look through it as well, and if you’ve already set In and Out points to that clip, they’ll appear there as well (it almost makes the Source monitor redundant). Such a focus on your clips means that there was less room to display your available tools, like the traditional jog and shutter controls, although it’s hard to imagine who would miss them when everything can be controlled with keyboard shortcuts – which is undoubtably a much more efficient way of working with an editing program.

And when it comes to editing, Premiere makes it very easy and it’s good to see that a lot of new features appear to be playing catch up with Final Cut Pro – it’s great when competition brings out the best out of the competitors. In no particular order, you can drag clips from any window onto the timeline, which can handle many different formats within the same sequence without skipping a beat. The Mercury playback engine is actually very impressive and played everything back in real time, even clips with many effects applied to them. There are some new editing tools available, like double-clicking on an edit point which brings up a trim view where you can alter both sides of the edit at the same time. You can even insert a default transition between your clips from there, and all this is done from the Program Monitor.

You’ll find a few new video effects as well, like Warp Stabiliser, which has the double purpose of stabilising your shots (as long as your jitters aren’t too extreme) and compensating for rolling shutter. This is often a problem with CMOS sensor-equipped cameras which create a wobble effect if the camera is moved too fast. Just as importantly, the colour correction tools have been redesigned and the 3-way colour corrector comes with many more options to help you tweak your footage exactly. It’s great to see a company that isn’t afraid to redesign their interface without alienating most users (and for those that don’t like the new look, you can revert back to the CS5.5 interface too), and it’s also good to see a company that’s not afraid to borrow great features from their competitors, like moving the cursor over a clip’s thumbnail to skim through the footage (thank you iMovie and Final Cut Pro X).

But as well as the interface design, what’s great about CS6 is that it was built on what already existed before, so if you’re a veteran Premiere editor, you won’t feel too lost when stepping into this new version. We also liked the fact that even running this software on a 5-year old computer, we didn’t notice any lag, even when playing back clips laden with effects – all without having to render anything.

Ever since Adobe decided to create their own UI irrespective of which platform their software was being used on, they lost what made each platform unique to the person working on it. Put simply, Premiere Pro is ugly and if you’re going to be staring at it for hours on end, it could be a consideration – maybe not a rational one, but a valid one nonetheless. Striking a good balance between the old and the new is a great achievement but it means that there really is no groundbreaking new tools to use. Apple wasn’t afraid to offer something completely new… and look where that got them, but at least you have to respect a company that dares to risk. Premiere Pro CS6 is an excellent update, but somehow, it doesn’t dare enough.

Our dislikes could be viewed as nitpicking, and they probably are to many. Adobe is making it really clear that if you liked Premiere Pro before, you’ll really like it now. The new features it offers make a strong programme even stronger, and if you felt let down by your editing app of choice’s latest version, then you should seriously consider taking a look at Adobe’s latest offering.